There is free will in areas that are not obviously areas of good and evil.
Accepting of good or dumb world views is an example. The Rambam has this idea of two areas of human choise. Good and Evil. True and False. [That is in the "Shemonah Perakim" (Eight chapters of introduction to Pirkei Avot)]
That is free will applies in lots of areas in daily life that have vast ramifications but are not obviously subject to some commandment. They are not areas that seem to be relevant to good or evil but to true of false world views. But accepting a false world view will bring one to great evil. The way a false world view gets accepted is by seeming to promote good values.
It seems to me I am presented often with rival world view systems that both have some plausibility but one is true and the other false and it is up to me to discern.
The Crowd is to me not conclusive. The fact that a lot of people believe in a system does not seem to me to be any factor for against a system. That is a result of my growing up in S. California where it was a strike against a system if the crowd believed in it. The more people that believe in a system, the less likely it is to be true. On the other hand the consensus of experts seems to be indication of plausibility. (Steven Dutch has a good essay on constitutes an expert.)
So for now let me just say that the matter of finding a true world view is not a trivial matter, but rather of utmost importance because all of ones action from from it.
This idea of using reason to decide corresponds closely with the approach of Saadia Gaon and Maimonides that the Torah is to bring one to natural law.
I know there are rival schools of thought but this is what I think gets closest to describing reality truly. And this is what I think describes the underlying principles of the Torah. You can see many elements of the system in the Guide of Maimonides.
Accepting of good or dumb world views is an example. The Rambam has this idea of two areas of human choise. Good and Evil. True and False. [That is in the "Shemonah Perakim" (Eight chapters of introduction to Pirkei Avot)]
That is free will applies in lots of areas in daily life that have vast ramifications but are not obviously subject to some commandment. They are not areas that seem to be relevant to good or evil but to true of false world views. But accepting a false world view will bring one to great evil. The way a false world view gets accepted is by seeming to promote good values.
It seems to me I am presented often with rival world view systems that both have some plausibility but one is true and the other false and it is up to me to discern.
The Crowd is to me not conclusive. The fact that a lot of people believe in a system does not seem to me to be any factor for against a system. That is a result of my growing up in S. California where it was a strike against a system if the crowd believed in it. The more people that believe in a system, the less likely it is to be true. On the other hand the consensus of experts seems to be indication of plausibility. (Steven Dutch has a good essay on constitutes an expert.)
So for now let me just say that the matter of finding a true world view is not a trivial matter, but rather of utmost importance because all of ones action from from it.
This idea of using reason to decide corresponds closely with the approach of Saadia Gaon and Maimonides that the Torah is to bring one to natural law.
I know there are rival schools of thought but this is what I think gets closest to describing reality truly. And this is what I think describes the underlying principles of the Torah. You can see many elements of the system in the Guide of Maimonides.
